


Trespass

by Knitzkampf



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Mystery, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope - Freeform, Supernatural - Freeform, The Force
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:47:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27305089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knitzkampf/pseuds/Knitzkampf
Summary: Han, Luke and Leia encounter something mysterious.
Relationships: Leia Organa & Han Solo, Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker & Han Solo
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

Everything else was eerily normal. The sky, as they witnessed yesterday, was darkening, shifting from a pale blue to an inky purple. Birds were flying around- Han remembered that too. And the bioluminescent mushrooms, when disturbed by passing wildlife, let go a delicate blue light.

It was the breeze- gentle and soft, but it did something to the kid; after lifting his head to it, he just got up without a word and started walking.

"Luke, wait," the Princess said, and she followed him!

"Hey," Han was snapping branches over his knee for the fire. "Where are you going? Hey!" he called again, louder.

But the pair ignored him, and he watched their backs, snapping twig after twig, until he could no longer see them.

Being with the Princess and the kid had taught Han a couple of things. One, he was often odd man out. That was his fault; still, sometimes it bothered him. Another was trouble followed them. And now, apparently, trouble led them away.

"Kriff," he muttered to his pile of sticks, and threw the last of them down. He went off after Luke and Leia.

He found them, somehow. No thanks to the mushrooms. And no damned breeze led him, either.

The pair were staring down at a large hole in the ground. Luke was squatting, too close to the edge, and Leia was behind him, fingers worrying high at her chest.

"What is it?" Luke was mystified.

Was he just now wondering? Kriff, he must have been staring at it quite a while now, judging by how long it took Han to find them.

"It's a crater," Han answered.

It wasn't like any other crater he'd seen, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. So it glowed from within. So it looked smooth. So what. Han had been all sorts of places, seen all kinds of things. He liked to think things had an easy explanation.

"It's not a crater," Luke said.

Han tossed his hands up. What else could it be? "A burrow."

"I don't think so."

"Maybe it's one of these mushrooms," Han looked around. He'd beaten a blue-lit path stomping on the fungi. "The mother mushroom."

"It looks like a portal," Luke said.

"It does not look like a portal," Han scoffed as harshly as he could, "'cause there's no such thing. It's a hole in the ground."

"I can see myself."

"There's water at the bottom, then. Get away from the edge." Han turned to the Princess. "What do you think," he asked.

Leia was staring at it. Han's question seemed to break her concentration, and she gave herself a little shake. "Probably something particular to this planet," she offered.

"It's the Force," Luke declared.

"No," Han said.

"Yes."

"No," Han argued. He gestured at Leia. "Her Royal Academy of Science said it herself. It's the planet, and we should go back to the campsite and comm C-3PO and get him to tell us what stupid stuff happens here he forgot to mention so we don't go falling down holes tomorrow."

"Do you see yourself, Leia?"

Luke's wonder was enthralled; Leia's was more careful. Han had never seen her look scared before, but maybe fear is what made her eyes look so huge, and her face, reflecting the glow of the hole, was pale.

"Yes." She looked riveted to the spot.

"I explained it before," Han said with patient frustration. "There's water at the bottom. Now c'mon. You've seen the hole. Let's go back."

"It's the Force," Luke pointed into the hole. "It's living energy. The Force. "

"That's complete nerfshit." Han appealed to Leia. "Ain't it, Princess."

Leia was nodding, but she had started that when Luke was speaking, so Han wasn't sure who she was agreeing with.

"It's here for me," Luke said.

"Well, you're not here for some hole. We're on a mission, remember?"

"I'm sure of it," Luke said. His shining eyes hadn't left the crater-burrow-not portal-hole.

Han absolutely hated when the kid got like this. But at least mentioning the mission had gotten through to Luke and he stood.

"Why else would it be here?" Luke asked.

"Let me tell you something, kid," Han said, "Force-sensitive or not, you're not that special. So drop it. Let's come back tomorrow." He passed a hand over his head, surprised to see a plan issuing from his brain. "With equipment. In the daylight, so we can see what we're doing. And you can explore and see that it's just a damn hole."

Luke took a step forward and dropped into the hole.

"Luke!" Han cried out, louder than he meant to, and reached forward to grab him, but the kid was gone before he even called his name.

"He jumped," the Princess said in disbelief.

"I know he did," Han roared. "Damn it! What the hells was he thinking?"

"How far down is it?" Leia asked.

"How the fuck would I know?"

"Maybe there are caves on Tatooine. In the canyons. And he's comfortable with them," Leia said.

"I ain't comfortable with him down there. Are you? This isn't Tatooine." Han took a careful step forward and peered down inside the crater. He couldn't see a damn thing. Except for the weird glow. No water. No reflection. No Luke. "Do you see him?"

"No. I see me."

"No you don't."

"You don't? see you?" Leia pointed. "I'm right there."

"I'd like Luke to see how pissed I am!"

"He thought- it... was talking. That it invited him down."

"Holes don't talk, Princess!"

"I know they don't. But- something is weird. You have to admit that." Her eyes left the ground for a second to meet his. "And stop shouting."

"What are we going to do? We need a giant owl or something we can send down to grab him."

"You sound hysterical. That's not feasible."

"Neither is jumping in a bottomless pit!"

"We need to find him. At the very least, find out what happened to him."

"Right." Han felt himself calm. He liked it when the Princess planned. She was pretty good at it. He nodded at her.

"You mentioned coming back with equipment," she said.

"Just what we got." Han passed a hand over his head again, feeling helpless. "Ropes that put up the shelter."

"And we have lamps."

"Yeah."

"One of us should stay here."

"Maybe it'll spit him out," Han agreed. "I'll fetch the stuff. You wait right here."

"I will."

But when Han got back carrying lamps and ropes the Princess was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Han let the ropes slide from his shoulders and dropped the lamps in a heap. It had grown very dark in the time it took for him to return, but he should be able to see Leia from the inner glow cast by the - thing.

He glared at it. He didn't understand it, and he didn't like it. Who in the hell would willingly jump into something like that?

Obviously, Luke.

And maybe Leia.

"What the hell," he muttered.

He turned a slow circle. The little mushrooms that had given off light before were spent. If she'd wandered off, or been taken, he should see more signs of bioluminescence.

"She was right here, Mother Mushroom," Han spoke to the crater. "Where'd she go?"

They had a plan, damn it. And her not following it, finding something better without waiting to tell him, was dejecting.

He kicked a small mushroom to be sure. The low blue light of the severed fungus gave no sign of Leia's whereabouts.

Han started to walk the perimeter of the hole. It was wider each time he thought about it. Why had he made so little progress?

"Leia? You said you'd wait."

Nothing answered him. He'd scared the whole woods into silence.

He bent from the waist over the edge. Odd man out, for sure. He cupped his hand and hollered for the one he wanted to be near. "Princess! You better not be down there!"

He listened to more silence, except for the growing noise that seemed to issue from his heart.

Then he lay on the ground and clutched his hair in his hands and let himself have a silent temper tantrum. He was furious, and maybe desperate too, and he cursed Luke for jumping, Leia for disappearing, and himself for being the one to clean up, like always.

"Mother Mushroom, give them back. Now."

He hadn't expected a response. But talking made him feel a bit better. His temper faded into resignation. He'd been in worse jams, hadn't he? And this wasn't trouble; it was Luke's making. If Han returned to base without them, whose loss was it? Not his. He tried. That's the best he could do.

Still, his mind sought that easy explanation. "Empire, you got a new weapon? Mystery holes that swallow rebels?"

Silence.

"We're supposed to be on a mission," he stubbornly insisted to absent Luke and Leia.

Han sighed, and stood to grab a rope. He much preferred taking on the Empire to a planet. "Brought a rope for you, Highness, but you apparently want to perform your own daring rescue stunt. Pretty rude, if you ask me."

Once the rope was tied firmly around a nearby tree, Han walked it to the edge.

"I'm coming down," he told the thing. Whatever it was. He was still arguing with Luke, even though Luke wasn't here to argue back. It was not a portal. It glowed; Han stuck to his theory of bioluminescence, even though that didn't make sense either.

Han bounced the soles of his boots with his heels dangling past the edge. He grabbed the rope in both fists, arms extended, elbows loose, and tested the tension. Preparing himself for a jolt, he sprang backwards off the edge.

His stomach barely had time to reach his throat before his feet kicked the wall of the thing and his grip on the rope stopped his fall. It didn't look like a mushroom. It didn't look natural. It didn't look built, either. He seriously had no idea what it was and if it weren't for that stupid kid and stubborn Princess, he didn't want to know.

Han eased down the rope as far as it would go, and he looked up. He'd descended only about twelve feet. Up above the sky was black and starlit, comforting. Below...

Maybe if he slid down to the end of the rope and dangled another six feet, his height, he'd learn something.

"Luke!" he called, pushing off with his feet to swing toward the middle. "Leia!"

Did planets contain voids? Because he yelled into complete silence. The weird glow only showed nothing. He could see, but he saw nothing, which he didn't know looked like something, only he couldn't describe it.

Stupid is how he would describe himself. His arms were aching, straining to hold his weight. Exertion puffed out his cheeks in breath. Han flattened his feet against the wall and told his hands to move higher up the rope.

Too bad, he thought to Luke and Leia. He had to get out of there. If they wanted to be saved- did they?- they'd have to wait for him to save himself.

Sweaty palms slipped an inch.

His comm was in his pocket. He'd grabbed it along with the ropes and lamps. That was smart; it showed he had foresight earlier, except what good was it to him now?

"Call Chewie," he ordered it to connect with his copilot while dangling over nothing. His palms were burning.

He didn't think it would work. He usually turned the unit off. Chewie was miles away, anyway.

"Damn it," he swore into the silence.

Why didn't he make a harness? Why wasnt his comm on? Was he usually this stupid?

"You do something to my head, Mother Mushroom? Ah, but that's Luke, not me. He's the one-"

He was going to have to drop. He was so stupid.

Luke had jumped, willingly. Maybe the fall wouldn't kill him. Maybe, just maybe, Han hoped, it would be the same for him even though he couldn't see or hear, when Luke did. It might pay to be on the right side of this... whatever it was.

"We're friends, right, Mother Mushroom? No harm; I just want to check you out."

With a prayed "fuck", Han let go of the rope.


	3. Chapter 3

Nothing was something, solid below his feet. Han lowered his aching shoulders. He must still be falling, only he could walk while doing it. He couldn't see a floor. His body was some kind of mirage, hovering in midair. The hole, which from above, and even while hanging inside it, had an even circular shape. Down here it opened up to an infinite width.

He was pretty sure he was alive. The noise he heard was his heart pounding in his ears. That was a good sign.

He took a few steps, but which way should he direct his slow motion fall? And could he stop? He walked back to the rope, and looked up, where stars twinkled in the sky.

The sky was real. Han knew that. As sure as he knew his name, as sure as he was pissed at Luke, as sure as he possessed a terrifying need to bring him and Leia out, the stars were real, and it was enough to keep him going.

Han jumped, and his fingers grazed the rope. It was real, too. And it was the way out.

"I'm coming back, Mother Mushroom. Gonna rest for a bit. Leave my rope."

He set out after Leia. She was, if she was down here, the more recent to fall, and in spirit she was halfway between Luke and Han. Luke claimed he was invited; Leia, judging by the expression on her face, had also received an invitation. Han most definitely had not. She hadn't wanted to accept, but something must have come over her while she was alone.

Why didn't the hole want him? And if there _was_ a bottom like Luke insisted there was, then Luke and Leia were able to walk, too. How soon? And why couldn't he _see_ them? It was like he was the only being in the universe.

"I don't care you didn't ask me, Mother Mushroom. I don't need you. Probably a good thing you didn't, 'cause I'm thinkin' Luke don't need to be down here and someone's got to pull his ass out. Why the Princess, though? She didn't want to, couldn't you see that?

"That's how I know you're evil."

Perhaps that was a harsh accusation. Han hastened to correct himself. He wanted to get out, after all; he didn't want some mushroom portal thing angry with him. "I don't mean evil, necessarily. What I meant was, not in Luke's best interest. You know? If you're some Force thing, you're taking advantage of him. He don't know much about it yet. So take me to Leia, and let me see what's going on here."

Han walked. The sky stayed black overhead; the stars didn't shift. If time were passing, and the planet were rotating, then they should shift. Just like his fall, which wasn't, he moved forward, all in the same moment.

"Your version of forever sucks, Mother Mushroom. I don't get why Luke fell for you." He recognized the pun after he heard himself say it, and was encouraged. He just might be able to outwit this- this... What the hells was it?

It wasn't a place. Which meant Han was nowhere, and he didn't like that.

It thought, Han was pretty sure of that. And it wanted.

Was Luke missing something, that he wanted that badly? And Leia- yeah, everyone knew she was missing something. She was smart, though. Maybe she took that invitation because she thought she could use it to save Luke.

Han was a trespasser. Mother Mushroom didn't have defenses set up against someone like him. Not that he encountered yet, anyway. He walked as he fell, and he was sure Luke and Leia did the same. So he'd find them.

Would they live forever down here? If it was forever: no time passed, right? So would they get hungry? Old?

Forever was boring.

"Oh, Princess," he sang out. "I'm coming for you, like I always do. Might piss you off, Mother Mushroom, but I can't help that. Might piss her off, too, matter of fact. I have that effect for some reason."

And there she was! Just like that, when in all the nothing he couldn't see a damn thing before, Leia was now just ahead, sitting on the midair like a butterfly, her legs curled under her, performing some intricate motion with her hands. She was smiling, her lips were moving, there was a wonderful quality of animation about her face that he never noticed before.

She was happy.

He'd never seen her like that. Seen her smile, seen her be happy, but that was fleeting; this was her as a person. Leia had once been entirely happy.

And he felt badly. Like he was snooping, like he was wrong.

What was she doing, though? It looked complex, but maybe it wasn't. She didn't have to watch her hands. She looked like she was talking to someone.

Her nothing was different than his.

"Hey, Princess," he rushed up to her, for seeing her made him happy. "What'd Mother Mushroom give you?"

She sprang to her feet, fists coiled at her side. "Never speak to the Queen like that!"

"Queen," Han repeated, fear edging into him just a little. Her reaction was not at all what he had hoped for.

Par for the course, though.

"Did you figure it out?" he wracked his brains. What had a queen? "This is an ant colony? They aren't going to feed us to the larva, are they?"

"Don't you look around?" Leia demanded. Her anger was impersonal. A Princess talking to a peasant.

"Yes, I look around. All the time! There's nothing here."

"If all you are going to do is insult the gardens and the Queen, perhaps you'd better leave."

"You know who I am, right?" Han said. "Do you remember Luke? You know what this is? Even though I don't?"

"Of course I know what this is. I know my home. I'm about to have you escorted out."

"Since when did you become an ant?"

"An ant? Your rudeness is quite extraordinary." She lifted her chin haughtily. "I am Princess Leia of Alderaan."

"I know you are."

"Then, provided you stop being so insufferable, you are invited to stay."

"Alderaan," Han realized. "You think this is Alderaan. I've never been to Alderaan."

"Then please, stay awhile."

"Leia!" Han's fist swallowed her hand. "It's me! You know me! When have you ever known me at your home?"

Her lips parted and she stared at his hand. "I... you came..."

"Answer me," he urged. "How can you know me with Alderaan, when you met me without it?" He gave his fist with her hand in it one shake for good measure; there sure wasn't nothing about her hand inside his fist. It was warm. Maybe she could see him outside of whatever else she saw.

"Up there," he showed her the black sky with the unmoving stars, "Alderaan is gone. And I'm sorry, sweetheart, but that's where you belong."

Her eyes had followed his upward, and then they came back down. She looked back to where she'd been sitting and then at Han.

"Han," she breathed.

It broke his heart.

"Yeah."

"I was- " She covered her face with her hands. "Gods. I was home."

"I know."

"I completely- the lake is over there," she stretched her arm out toward nothing. "And the magarra is blooming. It- smells, so- like I remember it. I was making flower chains."

"That's what you were doing."

"You don't see it? My mother," Leia waved her fingers toward a distant nothing, "is over there-"

"I don't even see the ground I'm standing on. There's a glow, is all, showing me there's nothing."

Her eyes were wide. "What if, what if we kept this? I remember you. You're Han. But I know Alderaan, too, and it's here, so... so _perfectly_. What if we- so I could come back-"

It- not Alderaan's ghost, but something more sinister, was calling her. He could see her lose interest- in him, his surroundings, and he was terrified of losing her again to it, because there was nothing in his.

Except him.

He squeezed her hand. "I can't come with you. It won't let me. It needs you for some reason. And Luke. Look at me." He let go her hand and spread his arms to show her his body. "I'm floating on nothing. I don't think I'm here. You come back and- I'm nothing. Not even a memory."

"Luke," she said. The name drew her back to Han.

"Yeah. I'm thinking this place offers you whatever you long for most, and you long for Alderaan."

Her lip quivered. "I do."

"Do you see yourself up there?"

She glanced up again. "Yes. I do."

"Good. Me, too." He gave her a half smile. "So if this gives you your heart's desire, what's Luke's? Home too? With his aunt and uncle alive and well?"

Leia met his eyes. "Luke's heart's desire is his father. Luke would be with his father."

Of course, Han thought. "Right. Anakin Skywalker. Any idea how we find him?"

"How did you find me?"

Han shrugged. "I just walked. Even though really I think I'm falling. And I was thinking about you."

"Let's try that."

"One favor," Han said. "You gotta- we have to hold hands. I'm not scared or puttin' moves on you, but I think it keeps us safe. I think it keeps us up there, together."

Leia nodded. "I can do that."

"Don't let go this time."

"I won't," she promised.


	4. Chapter 4

They walked, or fell. Were they in charge? Maybe they were being swallowed.

Entered, Han decided to call it. They were still entering. It was their choice. The rope was still back there. If they could find it. They were still holding hands, and Han felt a whole lot better about his prospects.

"What do you think this is?" he asked Leia.

She shivered, and her fingers tightened around his. "I don't know."

"Do you still see it? Alderaan?"

She looked behind her. "It's fading." After a moment she said, "It was beautiful. Maybe it's wrong, but I... liked it." She looked down at her hand. "I'm glad we- if we weren't doing this," she lifted their entwined hands, "I might-"

"How did it get you?"

Leia was mystified, and uncomfortable. "I don't know."

"Did it-"

"It's scary. It's like I got turned inside out."

Han could only think that was not a good feeling, but he remembered how happy Leia looked. He tightened his grip on her hand.

"And I didn't know it wasn't real," she said.

"Was your life really like that on Alderaan? Sitting outside weaving flower chains with your mother?"

"No," Leia said sadly.

"You know it's not real now," Han needed to make sure.

"I do." She didn't sound convinced.

"Well," Han attempted to bring more than her hand to him, "for a sec there when you said the queen my first thought was ants."

"An ant colony underground is a series of tunnels and chambers. This is nothing like that."

"I don't know what it's like."

"Why don't you?" Leia suddenly stopped and looked up into his face. She looked sorry for him. "Don't you have a heart's desire?"

Han squirmed. "I don't know. Probably. Maybe mine's not as obvious yours or Luke's."

"Maybe."

"Or," his glance was testing, "I'm not _its_ heart's desire."

Leia was interested. Han was glad to have her company.

"That's an idea," she said. "What Luke mentioned? The Force? He's the special one. But it got me, too."

"You're special."

"And you're not?"

He looked at her again. He could see her, super clearly. The glow, where it once revealed to him surroundings, or the lack of them, now was her. "You tell me."

She nodded, eyes looking ahead. "You're special."

Up there, he'd leer, or tease, or do something stupid to make special a bad thing. Down here he wanted to thank her. But he didn't. "Do you think you can change your heart's desire? Make it Luke? So he'll appear?"

Leia wrinkled her face. "I can try. But- I don't think so. I think it would sense I wasn't telling the truth. Luke is- he's my good, good friend, but-" She considered a moment. "I would stay forever here, with Alderaan. And never question why I never did anything except be happy. It's... like a heaven, isn't it?"

Han felt irritable. "Heaven is boring."

Leia opened her mouth and then closed it. She was still composed when she said, "That's the first time I've heard someone say that."

"You wouldn't need food," Han persisted. "I love to eat. And no sex. Sex is to make babies. Heaven ain't populated by births. You don't even need a body."

"I suppose that's true."

"Could you do that-" Han gestured behind him- "weave flowers like that, forever?"

Leia took a breath. "If I still felt that happiness."

"Boring."

Leia clucked irritably. "Everyone has an idea of a heaven. It might not be called that. A paradise."

"Or a hell."

"Yours is... Han!" Leia was struck by an idea. "Greatest desire, or greatest fear!"

He shook his head. "I don't think so. I'm not afraid in here." It was a tiny lie. He was, a little. Not afraid of being _in_ here, but afraid of the thing. "There's just nothing."

"Maybe you're afraid of nothing." Leia's voice grew thoughtful. "If Luke is right and this is the Force, does that make it the light side? But then, why would it keep us, and deceive us."

"Why would it even be here. Luke's been trying to teach himself and getting nowhere. Then all of a sudden-"

"Right."

In a flash Han knew what he needed to do. He cupped a hand to his mouth. "Luke!" he hollered into the void. "Me and the Princess want to meet your father!"

Leia whirled her head about. "Do you see him?"

"No, but wait a moment. I realized it's what I did before. I was arguing with Mother Mushroom here-"

"Mother Mushroom?"

"- and I called for you, and all of a sudden there you were, like you'd been there the whole time. I brought you out of nothing. See?" he gestured ahead of them, where Luke was slashing his lightsaber, the blue of the blade showing the concentration in his face.

Leia moved behind Han. She had dropped his hand but at least she tugged a bit of his shirt in her fist.

He put one hand over hers, just in case. "What?"

"... he's with someone."

"His father? Anakin Skywalker? What are they doing?"

"Training?" Leia wasn't sure. "Luke is... they're not fighting, but... Luke is being shown how to fight."

"His father was a Jedi. Luke's other heart's desire, what he wants to be."

"Yes. And it's all tied to his father. His lightsaber is red, like Darth Vader's."

"His father's a show-off. What's he look like?" Han was curious. Leia didn't like Luke's father for some reason.

"You don't-" Leia kept forgetting Han couldn't take part. "He's young. He doesn't look like Luke. He's tall. His hair is wavy and dark brown. He favors dark clothing, nerf leather. How will we get Luke away?"

"I'm not sure." But Han knew it would take the two of them. "You do the talking; Luke worships you."

"He does not-" Leia started to argue, but Han cut her off.

"This ain't the time for a fight, Princess," Han said sternly. "Get him away from-" Han flung his hand toward where Luke's lightsaber would connect if he had a visible opponent. "- that."


	5. Chapter 5

"Luke?"

Leia was still clutching Han's shirt and she dragged him forward a bit with her as she approached Luke and his lightsaber.

"What do you see?" Han whispered.

"Shh," she hushed him.

"Is he on Tatooine?"

"Han-" Leia realized the fastest way to get Han to be quiet was to answer his question. "He's at a beautiful place. Like a church."

The description made no sense to Han. "A church?"

"Luke, it's time to take a break," Leia said in a loud voice.

Luke's blue eyes, bluer in the glow of the lightsaber and the thing, darted at Leia. "Oh, Leia," he said. "Father said you'd be down."

"Does his father see you?" Han whispered above Leia's head.

"Yes."

"Did your mother see me?"

"I don't think so." She took another step, and left Han's shirt behind. In retaliation he pinched her shirt between his fingers and she wobbled. "Luke," Leia repeated. "Come here. Tell your father you'll return."

"The one thing I always wanted, Leia." Luke was thrilled.

"What's happened? Where are we?"

"This is it, Leia," Luke said. "I've found it. Or, it found me. Here, of all places. But this is the answer. How I'll become a Jedi."

"No, Luke, listen. When I came down I was given Alderaan! How can the same place provide us with two different things?"

"It did the same thing," Luke answered readily. "It looked into our hearts. The answer is the same. It only looks different."

"Luke, please," Leia spread her hands. Han grabbed a larger piece of her shirt. "If this is the Force, and this is your solution to how you'll become a Jedi, why was Han able to come down?"

Luke's eyes darted again. "Han?" he said.

"Right here, kid," Han said.

"I..." Luke faltered a moment. "I'm not sure." He started sparring again. "You two go back, then. I'll stay. I want to learn. It's all here!"

"How long will you stay?" Leia asked.

"Father says there's a lifetime of knowledge."

"A lifetime!" Leia said in dismay. "Luke, what- you'll emerge an old man and promptly die? What good will that knowledge do you?"

Han, following along, nodded appreciatively at Leia's argument.

"What kind of Jedi will you become if you never use your training?" she tried to persuade him.

Luke closed up his lightsaber. He said something to the dark nothing and walked over to where Han and Leia were standing.

"Did you hear me before, Luke?" Leia pressed. "This, whatever it is, doesn't want me to be a Jedi. It wants me to stay. It showed me Alderaan, and I forgot everything else. I forgot you, Han. I was so happy, I forgot Alderaan is gone!"

Luke nodded. "I'm happy, too."

"I'm not," Han put in. "I'm very pissed and a little freaked out."

"What did you get, Han?" At least Luke was interested in Han. He wasn't totally lost.

"Nothing," Han answered.

"Nothing? Not flying? Wealth? Ship of your dreams?"

"Nothing but chasing after you two."

"Alderaan is gone, Luke," Leia said in a soft voice. "How can it be here? Your father is dead. How can-"

"He's been waiting for me," Luke reported excitedly.

"Alderaan was not waiting for me."

"This is the Force, Leia! When my father died, the Force took him in. It must have taken Alderaan in, too."

"But why only you and me? Where are the other Jedi? Why not General Kenobi?"

"I didn't explore much," Luke frowned. He took Leia by the elbow and tried to steer her away from Han but he still had a hold of her shirt.

"I want this," Luke said.

Leia glanced quickly at Han, and took Luke's hand. "You'd rather stay here, forever. You'd rather- and not bury your aunt and uncle. Not avenge General Kenobi's death, or your father's. Not see the end of the Empire and help all the people of the galaxy suffering under its rule?"

Luke was staring at her hand. "Leia," he said as if he saw her for the first time.

"I know," she answered. "It was the same for me." She took Han's hand in her other. "Turn around," she ordered Luke. "Tell him goodbye. Tell him you'll see him when you can use the Force and it can't use you."

"My father," Luke said disconsolately.

"He ain't real, kid. All that's real down here is us. Oh, and the rope hanging off one of the edges."

"You didn't bring a lamp down," Leia chided.

"Pardon me, Your Highness," Han complained, "for being too busy-"

"We would be able to see our way out of here if you had."

"- holding on to a rope with my bare hands-"

"He's fading," Luke said. He was looking behind them.

"Our plan was to have you waiting on top," Han reminded her.

Leia gave up the argument. "Where were you, Luke?"

Luke glanced behind him again. "The Jedi temple. Could you see it, Leia? It's so beautiful. Those high, huge arches. Before the ruin, of course."

"Listen to yourself, Luke. 'Before the ruin.' Do you hear how-"

"Yeah," Luke conceded sadly. "I was so," he paused to gain control of his emotion, "so kriffing happy, after trying so hard to do what Ben taught me-"

"You didn't get enough time with him," Leia consoled.

"And," Luke thrust his jaw forward and his words sounded bitter, "I didn't know you can't trust the Force! Damn."

"This wasn't the Force," Leia said. "I think maybe someone who can wield it."

"No," Luke disagreed sadly. "It was the Force."

Han rolled his eyes.

"Do you think that was really my father?"

"Everything looked as I knew it on Alderaan. So, probably."

Luke nodded, and he looked sad again. "Yeah. I'm sorry. Han, I- look out!"

Nothing still looked the same to Han, but he felt something, a kind of burning across his chest. Leia was shrieking, "It's not real! Luke, no!" She still had a hold of Han's hand, and his arm was being jerked about by her.

Han could see the sky. "The rope," he said.

"Don't fight it!" Leia shouted. "Luke!"

"The rope."

Leia and Luke were kneeling on either side of Han.

Damn, he thought. I really did fall.

Leia caressed his cheek. "I figured it out, Han." She looked so nice right now, so tender. "Your heart's desire."

The glow was... well, fading. Han decided the word both Luke and Leia used described it best.

Leia leaned over him, her eyes shining. "It's-"


	6. Chapter 6

There was sandy ground underneath him. The cool night air moved over his face and he started to shake. The night was black; he could smell the fire he had started earlier.

Han was out.

"- someone who loves you," she finished saying.

"Leia," Han breathed. Relief and something else- a sense of completeness- death and birth- washed over him.

He knew everything, all he had to know. Her lips were on his, and he told her.

_My heart's desire._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the mystery is solved.   
> Happy Halloween!

**Author's Note:**

> A Halloween treat for you!


End file.
